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Chapter 183
To Catch Up to the Wolves (狼に追いつく, Ōkami ni Oitsuku) is the 183rd chapter of the Golden Kamuy manga. Synopsis Asirpa recalls a memory of hunting bears with her father and showing concern about the cub, asking if they could bring it back to the kotan with them. However, Wilk says that the young bear has grown too large for them to raise and that the mother bear and her cub will become a part of them. He tells her that even a bear cub is a vital food source for them and that if they hesitate to kill, they will end up starving. Wilk finishes by saying that misplaced sympathy or kindness can become weaknesses and that the weak will lose and be eaten. Kiroranke points Asirpa's attention towards a group of wolves that had come nearby, and Ogata wonders if they will come after them and if they were the ones that had chased the reindeer they saw earlier. Sofia comments that Wilk has always loved wolves, thinking they were pure and beautiful. She then begins to tell a story about when the revolutionaries were being chased by the secret police and they hid in a forest. One of their comrades had been seriously wounded and fell unconscious, making groaning sounds. In order to prevent from being found out, Wilk took out a knife and slit the throat of their comrade, killing him. Wilk reasoned that the man would eventually die and that they just barely avoided being spotted. Sofia admits that she would've agonized over the decision and would also reach the same conclusion as Wilk. From that moment, Sofia trusted Wilk from the bottom of her heart and began to love him. Sofia asks if either Kiroranke and Asirpa knew the origin of Wilk's name, with Kiroranke saying that he never heard about it and Asirpa struggling to remember. Sofia tells them about a time before Wilk had received his name, when he as a young boy found a weakened wolf in a forest near his village. Wilk became fascinated with the wolf and observed it howling to its pack. One day, the pack came for the wolf and killed it, declaring that the weak wolf had no spot in their pack. Wilk deduced that the wolves are logical creatures who cuts away any excess kindness so that they can survive. Wilk wanted to be an animal like the wolves so he would run around, covered in the dead wolf's pelt. Wilk's father saw him carrying around the pelt so he decided to name his son after the Polish language for "wolf". Asirpa recalls another memory of when she was camping with her father and asked him about her mother. Wilk tells her about her mother teaching him about the Ainu culture and that he had told her mother about how he got his name, which led to her giving him a name in the Ainu language, "Horkew Oskoni". Wilk says that "Horkew Oskoni" means "to catch up to the wolves", since he wanted to become like a wolf. He tells Asirpa that the only ones who know about his name are him and Asirpa's mother, and that she must never tell it to anyone. Asirpa has a sudden realization and thinks back to when she and Sugimoto acquired some of their tattoos, and noticing the letters on them. She then lets out an audible gasp upon finally realizing the meaning behind those letters, which Ogata hears. Character Appearances *Asirpa *Wilk (flashback) *Kiroranke *Hyakunosuke Ogata *Sofia *Prisoner Number One (flashback) *Yoshitake Shiraishi *Gotou (flashback) Category:Chapters